Whether it’s for cooking, beauty or healthy living we all have the need for the sweet smelling oil from coconut. But sometimes we just can’t easily lay our hands on pure coconut oil and when we do find they are a bit too expensive and you’re thinking, “Why can’t I just make it myself!”

There is hardly a day I don’t use coconut oil particularly for my skin care routine. I didn’t realize how much I needed to learn to make it myself until I used an adulterated one that caused me some serious skin irritations, and with a few moms asking how to make coconut oil at home after my recommendations to use of coconut oil, I guess it’s about time I learned !

In this post I will show you in simple steps how I made my own coconut oil at home and you can easily do same.

I got three large sized coconuts for N200 (Nigerian Naira, approx. 0.5 cents) each. I broke the shell on the hard floor and drained the water (we don’t need that) and I’m left with this.

You need a strong kitchen knife, a grater, two large bowls, a sieve, a pot or saucepan, stove and water.

So here we go:

Carefully remove the coconut pulp from the shell. This gets really dirty so be sure to wash the coconut pulp afterwards.

Grate the coconut pulp to get a nice smooth consistency (this is the hardest part and you have to be careful not to let the sharp blade of the grater cut your finger).

Pour some water into the grated coconut enough to cover the top and leave it overnight. This helps to release oil from the coconut pulp.

Wash and squeeze the coconut pulp with your hands and keep the chaff in a different bowl.

Rinse the chaff with clean water to be sure you have as much milk as possible out but you want to keep the water level in check to reduce the cooking time. You can keep the chaff for any other use otherwise you discard.

Sieve the coconut milk using a fine mesh, the same sieve for making pap (ogi or akamu) is good for this; you want to remove any chaff left.

Pour the milk into a pot or a sauce pan, put it on the stove fire and allow it simmer (no need to cover). This often takes time and most people prefer to use firewood or charcoal.

When the water is dry and most of it evaporated you have your pure, sweet smelling coconut oil left.

I got about 16oml of pure coconut oil from three big sized coconuts. I understand some coconuts produce more oil than others especially the very mature ones so look out for that when you buy your coconut.

Is the process worth my while?

Absolutely! Now I don’t have to worry about buying adulterated coconut oil. But if you don’t have the time and energy to go through the trouble of making yours all you do is look out for a reliable source of pure coconut oil and you’re good. But if you are a ‘DIY girl’ like me you will want to give it a go, and please do let me know what the outcome is (-:

A mum asked how can she use coconut oil for a smooth face… let’s make that my next post so we all can learn.